Best Friends Animal Hospital

After Dr. Jackson sold his business to this company, things went downhill fast. I learned fast that they were only out to make money and not necessarily for our animals. Luckily, I found another vet.

I will never, ever bring an animal to this vet again and I would highly suggest you do not bring your beloved animal here either. I took my rabbit here on March 28th, 2013 to get her spayed; her name is Shadow. Prior to the spaying, I met with Dr. TJ who stated that they were going to put in dis-solvable stitches, but I would still need to return in two weeks to get the stitches removed.



At 2:30pm, the same day, I arrived to the vet to pick up Shadow.. The receptionist stated that Shadow was all set and did not need to return to get the stitches out. I asked her to check with the doctor, because he told me I needed to bring her back. The receptionist went and asked again and again they stated she did not need to come back, so I asked if I could talk to the doctor. The doctor did not come out, but another office member did and stated that Shadow was all set and did not have to come back and handed me a bag of pain medicine.



On March 29th, 2013, at 12pm, I called Best Friends Animal Hospital, because Shadow was not eating or moving and I wanted to know if I could give her the pain medicine on an empty stomach. She was also making whimpering noises. The answering machine went straight to voice mail, so I left a message. At 12:30pm, I called again and the receptionist answered. I asked her if it was okay that I gave Shadow the medicine on an empty stomach, which she stated it was. I gave Shadow 0.3ml and throughout the day Shadow shut down more and more.



At 3:30pm, on March 29th, 2013, I received a phone call from Best Friends Animal Hospital. I stated that the pain medication did not work. The receptionist looked up my chart and stated that Shadow did not receive pain medication! The receptionist put me on hold and then came back and asked me to read what it said on the medicine. I began reading the bag of medicine and that is when I read FOR: PRINCESS THE FELINE! The receptionist put me on hold again and then came back and said that it was fine and that the dosage was fine and I could give her 0.15ml more. The rest of the night Shadow stayed in her bed, without moving and eating, and barely drinking water.



On March 30th, 2013, Shadow looked very lethargic. I called Best Friends Animal Hospital at 12:15pm and they stated that there was nobody in the office who knew about bunnies and the doctors who did were out of town. I asked them to call the doctor and they stated that they could not, but to call South trail Animal Hospital, who could look at her. After hanging up, my boyfriend called Best Friends Animal Hospital again and said that they need to have the doctor call us and they said okay.



At 12:30pm, we were on our way to South Trail Animal Hospital. Dr. TJ called us, on a blocked number, while we were on our way and stated that Shadow needed to go to an emergency vet and that there was nothing he could do because he was out of town. At 12:45pm, we arrived to South Trail Animal Hospital. They took us right in and began looking at Shadow, who could barely lift her head at this point. After taking her temperature, the Doctor stated that Shadow was experiencing hypothermia and her body seemed to be shutting down. The doctor tried calling Best Friends Animal Hospital to get information, but there office was closed. The doctor stated that the labeling on the medicine was not sufficient, because there were two types of Metacam, one which was a stronger type, and the labeling did not state, which one it was. The doctor also stated that no animal should be given this medicine on an empty stomach! When the doctor did the physical exam he stated that the stitches Shadow had were not dis-solvable, but Nylon.



After the examination, the doctor stated that we did not have much time and she needed help fast. He sent us to Florida Veterinary Referral Hospital, so that Shadow could have IV s put into her.



As soon as we pulled into the Hospital Shadow began to gasp for air. By the time we walked in, Shadow was dead.

Best Friends Animal Hospital is the very overpriced place!!! We brought our animals from overseas and have been with this place for almost 5 years and paid them thousands of dollars without any clue that we could find 3 times cheaper place and with more care and concern about your beloved animal. My rating for this hospital-is very poor, check around for better prices before you go there, just an example, they charged us $391.00 for our cat's x-ray procedure and for the same procedure but at the different animal hospital we paid only $60.00, a big difference isn't it?